A Heart of Ice and Shadows
by RavenFire2908
Summary: A thousand years ago she was cursed with the power of darkness. She hid herself within her castle of shadows and ice. Her servants were frozen in time, along with everyone she loved dearly. Now, a prince has gotten lost in the blizzard that hides her castle, but this prince has heard of the dark princess that is hidden within the dark walls. (Rest of Summary inside)
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** AU: A thousand years ago she was cursed with the power of darkness. She hid herself within her castle of shadows and ice. Her servants were frozen in time, along with everyone she loved dearly. Now, a prince has gotten lost in the blizzard that hides her castle, but this prince has heard of the dark princess that is hidden within the dark walls. Will fear take him over and leave the dark princess alone, or will the warmth from his heart free her from the dark curse.

 **Chapter 1: A curse of darkness and ice**

 _Once upon a time, in a kingdom long forgotten, lived a king and a queen. The king was one of raw power and control, that ruled with an iron fist to the throat of his people. While the queen was the hope and light of the kingdom._

 _King Trigon had married into the royal family of Azarath many years before he even took control. Princess Arella's mother, at the time, had said that Trigon had to prove his loyalty to the kingdom or he would not get any power to rule it. Trigon had been the prince of Scath before they united the two kingdoms. Trigon was a strong tall man with long white hair and yellow eyes that shone with magic of all kind._

 _And he did._

 _Trigon proved that he could rule the kingdom of Azarath, alongside Arella._

 _Queen Arella had always been kind hearted. She ruled the kingdom like her mother before her. She was the one that calmed Trigon down if his anger got out of control. Yet, she loved him. It was not love from their souls, but it had been impossible to not gain some kind of friendship after their arranged marriage. Arella was a small, yet strong woman that could fight hand-to-hand battles if she wanted. Her long purple hair was usually braided into smaller braids that fell to one long tail at her feet. The queen also held amethyst eyes of wisdom._

 _Azarath laid in between the snow covered mountains, a few days from the Kingdom of Jump kingdom to the South, and Nol to the West._

 _The kingdom, despite having it snow six months a year, was one that survived for many centuries, the kingdom held powerful magic. Magic that kept crops growing through the snow, magic that kept warmth to the coldest cottage._

 _Arella gave birth to a daughter on the coldest winter night. She named her after the black bird that had blessed her with warmth the day before. A raven. Princess Raven was the heir to Azarath._

 _But the joy of the new baby princess did not live for long._

 _A dark warlock in the kingdom of Nol, had found out about the princess. And angry at Azarath for not combining their lands instead of Azarath and Scath, the warlock king travelled to the festive land of Azarath._

 _A ball was held to congratulate the princess's birth. Nobles and peasants joined together and found joy in coming to the white castle. Colors were dancing across the floor while some joined the king and queen to give them a gift and to congratulate them._

 _Music played, but stopped when a dark cloaked figure walked through the dancing people. Guards reached for their swords and walked up to the king and queen. Trigon himself placed his hand upon his sword._

" _Good evening…" The cloaked warlock said while bowing, the warlock's metal feet scraped against the stone floor. "Am I too late for the party?" He asked._

" _Who might you be?" Queen Arella asked carefully while holding Trigon's arm in both fear and to hold him back._

 _The warlock threw back the hood of his cloak, many gasped at the sight of the warlock king of Nol. Black hair fell to his lower back, one green eye fell to Arella while the other was blocked with a black patch. A scar was formed from the top of the patch and fell over his lips. The black cloak glowed darkly of green as a small breeze picked up behind him. Half the man's body was of metal as he also wore the royal armor of his kingdom, but it was also known that the king before them had lost his legs in battle many years before. "King Malachi of Nol, your highness." It was clear that he addressed Arella and not Trigon._

 _Arella gave a bow with her head and rose from her throne, she crossed her hands and stepped up to stand before the king of Nol. "What is it you seek in our kingdom?" She asked with the kindness of her heart._

" _I wish to give a gift to the princess… Why else would I come all this way alone?" The fact took Arella back._

" _You have travelled alone?" Arella asked, her eyes looked around the room before she turned to her husband, that looked at the king of Nol with careful eyes. She nodded to him, a signal to send guards to check if the king was really speaking the truth._

 _Trigon nodded and waved to the guards to split. Many remained as the threat was right before their queen._

" _It is very kind of you to give our daughter a gift, if I can ask; What is your gift?" She tried her best to not sound rude to the king that was known for dark magic._

" _A gift of magic, your highness." The king took a step forward, a step towards the queen, and a step towards the baby that laid at Trigon's feet in a small crib. Trigon had given the small child his hand to play with so she would not alert the dark king._

 _Magic began to swirl around the dark king's hands before flying over to the princess. He knew they weren't going to let him too near their child._

" _The princess shall be blessed with magic beyond herself, beyond Azarath. Powers of the cold and darkness… The princess shall be blessed with magic hard to control. Her magic will awaken at the strike of her first birthday. Dark magic is what she has, dark magic is what she is… And only, the light from the royal blood may change her faith."_

 _The king and queen had tried to stop him, but found themselves stuck. Arella stood with her feet frozen to the ground, and Trigon frozen to the throne._

" _I wish you the best of luck with your child… Your highness…" With that, the dark king faded into a black mist before vanishing completely. The attacking guards threw themselves after the mist but fell to the ground with a thump._

 _Free from the ground, Arella ran to her now crying child. Gently picking up the purple haired child, she hugged her._

 _Trigon didn't waste time, he ordered that the king of Nol was going to be hunted down. He did not care of the war that could come of this, but Nol had attacked first._

 _A year passed and Nol had yet to explain the King's attack. King Trigon had been forced the give up the manhunt when Arella had called for him._

 _At Raven's first birthday, she grew cold. Her body temperature dropped at dangerous speed, yet she felt like any child at one year._

 _When Raven turned five, it was then that she learned about her magic, and she used it for good, and fun. When or if a window broke, she would cover it with ice to keep their warmth inside until the widow was repaired._

 _When she turned eight, she found out she could teleport through shadows, which helped her when she stole cookies from the kitchen._

 _When she turned ten, she became a troublemaker. To have fun, she froze the floor of the hallway to ice-skate. Servants would stumble upon the ice, yet Raven would apologize and help the servant with whatever they were doing._

 _The king and queen watched Raven grow with her magic that was supposed to be evil, yet they saw not darkness in it. Not even the power of shadows, she created small dark beings that acted like pets. Maybe the King of Nol had actually given her a good gift._

 _Arella and Trigon did have powers themselves, Arella held a power of warmth, that she spread through all the houses of the kingdom. While Trigon held magic of strength that he used to help build the kingdom._

 _The family was happy, they lived in joy and fun as the years went by._

 _However, Raven's powers grew. They became stronger, and soon took control of her. Slowly, servants at the castle froze over, leaving a statue of dark ice around them. Frozen in time._

 _So Raven locked herself away, her joy became fear as her powers affected the ones she loved. And after half the castle's servants had turned to ice, she locked herself away from her parents._

 _The king and queen tried to open the door, but it was frozen from the inside._

 _On the day of her sixteenth birthday she noticed a lack of her parents trying to get her out. She dared to open the doors, and wandered around the castle._

 _Upon arriving at her parents room, she found them frozen. Her parents frozen in a deep sleep next to each other. Her mother had been crying, while Trigon seem to try to comfort her. But gone they were, and Raven did not know how to undo the magic._

 _She locked the castle up. Not allowing anyone to enter, the last remaining servants were ordered to leave before dawn and to never return._

 _But it was not enough._

 _A year later, one man appeared on the castle door. Raven allowed him to speak, but he had to leave as soon as he was done. "Villages all around the kingdom has frozen. Houses has been buried under massive amounts of snow, people have turned to ice." Was what he said. It was then that she knew, she had cursed not only her castle, but the entire kingdom as well._

 _The servant was frozen on the way home. And Azarath was buried in snow, never to see the end of it again._

 _Raven however, stayed in the castle in the middle of the forever frozen lake. A mist, dark like the night covered it and hid the castle from everyone. She froze herself, froze her age, froze her mind to remain in her home. She froze her heart in hope that one day, maybe she could be free._

 **xXx**

 _And while Azarath froze over, Malachi of Nol watched. Watching the darkening princess fall into her own Hell and vanish from the light of day._

 _Malachi laughed, only royal blood could free her. And there was no doubt that the neighbouring kingdoms would help. Not after what he told them._

" _Azarath attacked my son! They tried to kill him! I have done nothing to them, and Trigon comes to my home in the darkness of the night to kill my son!"_

 _The kingdoms agreed, they agreed that if something ever happened to Azarath, they were on their own._

 _Everything was going after his plans. But now, it was only to get his son attached to the dark princess._

 **xXx**

 **Okay, so I know I'm implying Malchior x Raven here, but he's not the prince. You're going to have to vote, vote on the ship you like the most, there is just a few that I am totally against, so if that happens… Don't expect anything. And the thousand year thing, I'll explain it later in the next chapter, promise.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay first of all! The reason I chose Robin/Richard for this role is because I don't do enough of other ships, I'm a multishipper and ship everything with Raven… And a few other characters that I won't bother to mention. Anyway, I got this huge Guest comment that said a lot to some other comments… Guys, don't hate on ships, please. A ship is a ship and you ship what you want. Someone mentioned that Beast Boy/Garfield was too immature for this role, no, he can be serious when he wants to be. But I chose RobRae for this story, I'll repay the BBRae shippers with a fic in the future, I promise. Just don't hate others for liking a ship you don't like.**

 **Chapter 2: The Prince**

 _Things change over the course of a thousand years. Azarath was covered in snow and vanished from maps across the land. Villages and kingdoms fell and rose. Gotham, that used to be a city and Jump Kingdom, grew and took over the kingdom itself. Nol was still the dark kingdom with wicked kings._

 _King Malachi still ruled the lands, his son, Malchior awaited the throne. Magic worked in a strange way, the royal family of Nol had been blessed with the immortality of dragons, and dark magic. Malchior was Malachi's only son, his wife had died giving birth but Malachi didn't care. All he wanted was an heir._

 _Malchior grew up to be the same as his father, dark, wicked, and cruel. He had been gifted with an ability to turn into a dragon. A black and purple dragon with glowing red eyes that killed knights with one thought of death. Malachi was certain that his son would be in his favor._

 _All he had to do, was find the iced down castle of Azarath._

 **xXx**

King Bruce was angry, he was angry for many things. But at the moment, he was angry at Richard, his son. Richard had refused to marry the princess of Tamaran. He said, "I don't even know her, why do you want me to marry someone I don't know? I want to be free, I want to hunt!" With that, his son had stormed off, and Bruce was left angry with the question, where did I go wrong?

Richard rode through the forest on the black stallion, his sword hung from his belt on his right side while the crossbow was strapped to his back. He really had no idea where he was going, but anywhere but his home it was.

Richard's horse jumped over another fallen log. It was snowing, it was late autumn and the white snow had began to fall and cover most of the kingdom. Personally, Richard wasn't a big fan of snow… Or winter for that matter! But he could handle it.

He'd just ask the cook to bring him his dinner to his room and also bring some hot chocolate maybe. Yes, that would be good.

The black haired prince was sniffing, the cold was getting to him. But it couldn't stop him. A little cold? Ha! It'd take more to bring the prince of Gotham down.

The tall pine forest around him, had him confused for a few minutes, he just rode by that fallen log. Or maybe it was two.

Richard shook his head and drew the crossbow along with an arrow, there was a deer between the trees maybe one or two yards away. It was a female. And just as he was about to shoot, a small baby deer walked up to it's mother.

Richard drew the bow back, he couldn't shoot at them.

Richard shook his head and rode further into the forest. The two deers noticed the movement and fled. He was glad he didn't kill the deer, it would've been a tragedy to kill a mother deer. The baby wouldn't have made it alone.

The horse jumped over a small boulder, and they suddenly found themselves by a ravine. A deep ravine that seem to last forever as it actually had a black pit around the bottom. Ice blue and glowing purple eyes seem to stare back at him, stare into his own deep blue eyes. Richard made the horse step back, this seemed way too dangerous.

However, curiosity got the better of him. He jumped off the huge black horse and stepped up to the pit. Upon staring down, he felt fear and darkness surround him. It was something down there. Something evil. Richard began to step back towards his horse, but not before the cliff gave out from under him.

He screamed as he slid down the side of the ravine, his clothes ripped against the stone as he tried to find something to hold onto. Nothing.

He kept falling.

It felt like he was falling forever, before he finally hit the ground. He was lucky enough to land in snow.

"I've never been so in love with snow!" He cried with joy. But it didn't last long before he began to look at his surroundings. Mountain walls seem to surround him, but a red glow gave faint light to his surroundings.

He rose from the snow and began towards where he could see houses. Who lived down there?

As Richard walked, he found himself in a blizzard. The ice cold wind brushed against him, and the snow picked up around his legs. Richard crossed his arms to keep warm, it was the only thing he could do at this point.

Upon closing in on the village, he saw people. They all seem to stand still, but maybe they could give him some answers on where he was. Richard picked up his pace towards them.

But, as he came closer, he saw that the humans were literally frozen. They stood still as ice was covering them. He couldn't make out their appearance as a black shadow had surrounded the inner lair of the ice, but he could make out that some had been mid run, some walked, one was even leaning over a frozen well.

The prince walked through the village and looked at the ice sculptures around him. They were frozen in time, and at the spot.

Fear crept up the spine of the prince and he took a few steps towards the town hall. Thick layers of snow covered the entrees, but maybe there was something that could help him find out where he was.

After many pushes of the door, it finally slid open, just enough for him to slip inside. He closed the door and was meet with darkness. No light but the red glow from the windows. Richard began to organize himself, he still had his sword, his bow and arrows were lost, but he had a small knife to his boot, and he had a match for some reason.

He blessed himself as he began to look for anything to light.

The Hall was huge, and filled with dust covered items. Chairs, tables, dead plants in vases, and huge paintings along the wall. He found an unlit candle at one of the tables, and again he blessed his luck. Richard walked through the first door he found after lighting the candle.

It was a meeting room. Huge with one large table and chairs neatly placed along it in a huge circle. There was a fireplace in the room, with old burned coal. Richard sighed as he settled to candle on top of the table. He reached for the coal, still burnable. Carefully he used the candle to light the flames in the fireplace.

The warmth of the fire spread through him as he leaned close to it. It was very pleasant from the cold weather outside. Richard rubbed his hands as he held them towards the flames. He sat like this for almost an hour, before his senses returned to him.

Picking up the candle, he went around the room to see if there was anything that could give him any clue on figuring out where he was.

While searching the room, he came across a stack of books, the stack was covered in dust and seem to have not been moved in a very long time.

"Don't touch it…" A voice said behind him, he turned to the speaker and jumped at the sight of a little girl. The girl looked to be not older than six, she was blonde with bright blue eyes, however it wasn't the fact that she was there that freaked him out, it was the fact that she was glowing bright blue. "She doesn't like when things move…" She said.

"W-Who are you?" Richard asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"My name is Melvin, I've been here since the storm came." She said, she gently floated over to where Richard was standing. She moved the book back to its original place, as Richard had moved it slightly.

"When did the storm come?" He asked while watching the child look out the window.

"Umm… Only the princess knows, but she's always too sad to talk. I miss being around her." Melvin said. Richard took note of how she said princess and how she missed her.

"Where am I?" He asked, there weren't any princess or kingdoms between Gotham and Nol, not that he could recall.

"Azarath." She said, the small girl settled down on one of the tables. "You're in Azarath."

The answer took Richard by surprise, he'd never heard about Azarath. If it were a kingdom with a living princess then it should've been on his maps and in books, but never in his life had he heard about Azarath. Azarath was a kingdom from tales, one in particular where a young princess was cursed and the ending was sad… Well, he couldn't recall more of it as it was so old and his old caretaker had died many years ago. Alisa, had told him the tale and he complained that there wasn't really an ending to the story, it just ended with "so she waited." and that was it.

"But Azarath isn't-"

"Real?" Melvin interrupted, the little ghost was about to speak when a howl was heard from the outside. "Oh no," She muttered. "She knows you're here." The little ghost flew out to hallway and vanished into a small ice sculpture at the end of the hallway. "Hide." He heard before footsteps were heard outside front door.

Richard did as told, and hid behind a stack of books, it wasn't the best place to hide but it was better than nothing.

Loud footsteps made their way around the room, and Richard actually dared to peek over the edge.

A huge black creature with the body of a bear and head of a wolf, with antlers placed on top of its head, it picked up the map Richard had found. The creature was dripping with darkness and smoke was covering it's legs so it looked like a mass of shadow. The creature also had four red glowing eyes that shone with evil.

Richard ducked behind the stack of books as the creature's head whipped in his direction.

"Royal…" The creature hissed with a dark, booming, yet hoarse voice. The creature moved to stand behind Richard as it looked down at him. Richard jumped from his spot and drew his sword. The creature sniffed him before looking at the sword. "Son of Gotham." The creature turned away and stalked over to the door. "Royals don't freeze." A mass of darkness shot towards Richard before he could react, the last thing he saw before the darkness took him over was the creature's face mutter a few words he couldn't translate.

 **xXx**

 **Sorry it took so long to upload this, I've been busy with school lately. But it's one more day and then it's over and I'll be able to write more.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Thousand years of sorrow**

Raven was more than shocked when one of her shadow figments returned to her castle with a living and breathing human. The figment dropped the boy at her feet under her ice throne. Raven had worked hard to hide Azarath, even though she wanted the curse removed and her people free, she didn't want to freeze more people.

"Who is the boy?" She asked the figment. Her fingers started to play with the blue hem of her blue sleeved dress. Her dress being dark blue and a traditional Azarainian style with floral silver pattern.

"Royalty, your highness." The figment bowed before her. "The son of Gotham."

Raven stared down at the sleeping boy, to her it was a boy. Merely eighteen, while Raven lived at one thousand and seventeen years. Raven rose from her throne, dressed in a gown of shadow, she walked up to the prince to see how alive he was. Feeling his warm pulse, Raven figured it was better to stay away from him. She looked up at the huge figment. "Bring him to one of the spare rooms and make sure he's warm. Vulnerable humans don't last long in this cold." The figment nodded and bowed before picking Richard up and walking into one of the hallways on the sides.

Raven looked after him for a few minutes before sighing. "Melvin, thank you." The little ghost girl appeared in front of the princess, she looked down at the ground as if ashamed.

"I'm sorry I pretended to be afraid." She said, Raven could tell it was a lie. Everyone had feared her when she froze everything.

Raven smiled before sinking down to her level, "Don't be. And as I promised, I will break the curse and you can return to your body again."

Melvin laughed a little. "I don't mind being out of my body, it was strange in the beginning, but it feel better now." Melvin turned to leave again, but stopped before turning back. "And thank you, Raven."

"For what? Freezing everything?" Her tone dripped with sarcasm.

"No," Melvin paused, "For not giving up." The little ghost girl ran up to Raven and gave her a hug, to Raven's surprise, she didn't pass through, so she hugged her back.

"I promised, I'll free everyone from the curse if it's the last thing I ever do." She whispered.

 **xXx**

Richard jumped as he woke from a horrible nightmare. He dreamt that he fell into a ravine filled with snow, where he meet a ghost girl, then a huge monster of a shadow appeared and… It wasn't until he finished rambling to himself that he noticed he wasn't in his room. This room was bright blue with silver wood furniture. Unlike his room and home that used dark oak. Everything was decorated with silver and was lightly colored.

The room was simple, a huge king size bed, a closet, a mirror, windows with the curtains closed, a burning fireplace, and a nightstands with burning candles. Whatever lived there must use an effort to keep the room warm.

There was about six layers of blankets over him, three of fleece, one of wool, and one of fur, wolf to be specific. Richard was about to remove the lairs when he felt the ice cold air around him, he buried himself deeper into the warmth of the blankets when the door opened.

"The royal is awake." The demonized creature walked in holding a tray on one giant claw and clothing in the other. "The princess will try not to harm you, but try to keep warm and tell when it's too cold." It said before leaving the tray and and clothes next to him. Richard looked at the tray, it was warm soup with a cup of… Tea? It smelled good, so he had to try at least.

After struggling to get dressed under the warm covers, Richard moved out. The clothes did keep him warm, despite their thin looking appearance. He came to wear a shirt and pants with a cloak over, he didn't pull the hood up as he felt it wasn't needed, but still he walked up to the fireplace to eat and drink.

"Has he awoken?" Asked a female voice outside the room.

"Indeed, your highness." It was the voice of that creature. "The prince is resting by the fireplace, her highness has done well with keeping the room warm."

"I do my best, Goredar." The female voice said, "I will speak with him when the time is right, right now, you will tend to him." Footsteps walked away.

The wooden door opened and Goredar, the horrifying creature from earlier. "Prince…" The creature bowed its head before saying, "Her highness is asking about your health, how are you feeling?"

Richard's eyebrows knitted together before he said, "I'm fine, I guess… But where am I?"

Goredar's red eyes brightened before calming, "The princess will answer your questions. However, it is at most importance that you stay warm and tell when you feel cold, even the slightest bit." Richard nodded slowly.

"You need not be afraid, none can harm you unless the princess tells." Goredar says before settling down a few feet away from the prince. "I can feel your discomfort around me, the princess shall speak to you soon."

Richard swallowed and looked into the fire. He blinked and his eyes narrowed as he swore he saw someone move within the fire. It looked like an image of someone, a woman, running with a child, a daughter. However as soon as it started, it stopped.

"It was the queen before she froze." Goredar said while also staring into the fire. "The queen loved the princess with all her heart, but lost her when she froze like the kingdom."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked.

"The princess will tell her story, I am not allowed to say more." Goredar said, but quickly added, "I shall tell you what you need to know about her; The princess is a lone soul, she has the sorrow of thousand years. The princess has suffered in her own darkness. Be careful of what you say to her."

All Richard could do, was nod.

 **xXx**

Raven stared at her sleeping parents. She did this every day. Lifting her hand, she willed her magic to free them.

Nothing happened.

Frozen in time, she was to witness her mother cry under the lair of ice. Her father lay still hugging her mother. And a vision flashed before her eyes.

 _Trigon lay in bed next to his wife. They knew tonight would be their last. Ice had started to cover the walls and were slowly creeping towards them. Arella lay crying in his arms, she didn't cry because she knew the ice was coming, she cried because once it was done… Her daughter would be alone._

" _She'll be okay…" Trigon tried to comfort her. "She's our daughter, strong… Both mentally and physically."_

" _I know, but how much of loneliness can she handle? How long will she be alone? I don't want to leave her alone!" Arella cried._

" _It is not our fault, neither is it Raven's. This is the work of Malachi. And he will pay when we awaken."_

 _That was all that they had managed to say, before the ice had covered their bodies._

Raven used her blue sleeve to dry away her tears that had started to fall down her cheeks. Her hand lifted to the tiara placed upon her head, lifting the silver item she looked at the gems.

The tiara was floral inspired with blue gems formed in flowers. White pearls were lined beautifully along the way to the crescent moon placed where her forehead would be on the tiara, there was a flower cut sapphire.

On Raven's forehead, a small ruby was placed, it was a gift from Azar. Azar was an old priestess that took care of the azarainien temple. The old woman, as everyone else, had frozen in her temple.

The ruby was said to control her magic, not completely, but it would hold it back with massive amounts. And yet, she froze her home and everyone in it. That very fact scared her. If three quarters of her power was sealed in the gem, and that one quarter was able to freeze a kingdom, then how powerful was she really?

No, she didn't want to know.

Raven placed the tiara back atop her head, she had been wearing it since the night everything froze, and she would wear it with shame. Shame of who she was and what she did. She would wear it as a reminder of what she did, of who she hurt.

She would forever regret what she did, she had for a thousand years now, and maybe a thousand more…

 **xXx**

 **Well… It's the third chapter and I have nothing better to do, I'm trying to keep my muse up as I keep going back and forth out of writing block and art block. I hate it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A cold meeting**

Despite the former coldness, Richard had managed to get the warmth of the fire into his body. Still, he sat rubbing his hands trying to keep them warm.

"Her highness has gifted you these…" Goredar walked through the door and handed Richard some new, warmer looking clothes. The prince didn't hesitate to put them on. At first they were cold, but as soon as his body adjusted to the coldness and also warmed the clothes, they were comfortable. It was also a slight shock as he knew he was wearing more than three layers and it felt like just one.

"How does it-" He didn't even finish his sentence before Goredar answered for him.

"Magic." He paused, "Her highness enchanted the clothes to be immune to her magic. Follow me." Goredar led Richard out to the dark and ice covered hallway.

Despite the darkness and ice covered walls, Richard could see the old paintings and decor underneath. Some paintings were of what he could only assume was the royalty. One of the paintings had a woman with a child in her arms.

The next seem to be a family painting, as he saw both the mother and father with the child, the princess, he guessed.

Then, there was a painting of another woman. It looked like the woman with the child, only younger and she was paler. She didn't smile in the painting, the woman stood in a room next to a window where a snowstorm seem to be going on.

Richard almost stumbled down the steps when Goredar lead him to the stairs. Richard had been too busy paying attention to look at the paintings, however Goredar caught him by the collar of his shirt before he could fall.

"Be careful with your steps, the stairs are as well frozen." Goredar warned. "If harm comes to you, her highness will have my head." His last words were merely a whisper, but Richard heard it.

"What do you mean?"

"Ask her highness."

The two walked through another hallway until they came upon a set of ice covered wooden doors. Goredar reached out his hand and the door opened.

Richard walked into the massive throne room, he knew so as soon as he saw the black ice throne at the other end of the room. The room was odd compared to his father's. This was dark, ice covered of course, as if every shadow in the room had it's own life. There were red glowing eyes that watched him as he walked past them, that made the prince uneasy.

From what he could tell, there was only he, Goredar, and the shadows that were present in the room.

Still, Goredar got to his knees and bowed to the empty throne. "Your highness." He said with his head lowered.

Nothing.

Richard looked at Goredar confused for a minute before a voice spoke through the dimly lit room. "I see you brought the prince to my throne room." Richard looked around for the voice's owner, but nothing, no one was there.

"You asked for his presence, did you not?" Goredar said after standing up properly. "I figured the prince would be ready."

Silence.

"I am not so sure…" The voice finished.

"Forgive me, your highness. Is it him that is not ready, or you?" With a second after he finished his sentence, a monster jumped from the shadow and attacked Goredar.

"Do not question her highness!" The new monster hissed. "No matter what power you have!" This monster was different from Goredar in so many ways, this one held the head of a goat with sharp pointy horns, and a lionlike body with a long spiked tail. It's voice sounded broken and hoarse.

Goredar pushed the creature off him and stood, "I am not questioning her highness, I am pointing out."

The new creature stepped back into the shadows and vanished, like a silent command had been told.

"Goredar, as always I trust your instincts as the commander of the guard, but I cannot say the same for your judgement of my mental stability." The female voice said. "What does the prince feel like saying?"

Goredar turned to him, waiting for him to say something, anything. Richard swallowed, "What do you want me to say or ask?"

There was a second of silence before the voice said, "What do you feel about what you have seen in my castle?"

Richard turned to Goredar, who gave him a nod to tell the truth. "I don't really know, it's a little cold, but not bad…"

"Are you afraid?" The voice asked.

"No." He wasn't.

"Very well." A few of the shadows fell from the walls and crawled to the foot of the throne before forming a body. There was a hiss before a woman stood there. It was the woman from the painting.

Long purple hair, with a dress like midnight, and amethyst eyes. Her skin was pale, but in the lack of sun that must have been gone for a long while here. She stood in the long midnight dress with a slight breeze blowing her hair and dress. She was the most beautiful woman Richard had ever seen.

His jaw dropped slightly, and his eyes widened slightly.

"What is your questions, Richard of Gotham?" She asked, he knew she wasn't wasting any time.

"Uhh… First, might I ask who you are?"

The girl gave a short nod, before saying. "I am Raven of Azarath."

Richard's eyebrows knitted together slightly. Azarath… That was the name of a fallen kingdom in a tale. It wasn't real, but he'd heard nothing else since he came here. "Umm… But Azarath isn't real, I've heard about it in tales… Everyone says it's not real."

Raven walked up to Richard, standing a few feet away. "Follow me, and I will tell you the tale of the fallen kingdom Azarath." She stepped into the hallway to the right of the throne. Richard followed.

"A thousand years ago…" She started, before telling her the tale of how her home fell into darkness and ice. She left some parts of the curse out, as it would probably just sound like an excuse.

"Wow…" Richard began, "That's a story."

"My kingdom has been frozen in time for a thousand years, I on the other hand… Has been awake without the ability to age." She finished.

Richard looked out the window they passed, a storm was still roaring outside. "How's that possible? That you've been alive for so long?"

Raven smiled softly, "Magic works around many things, knit the threads of reality and bend the branches of the non magical world. You have lived with the thought that magic is dangerous, have you not?"

He had. His father had always talked about how magic was dangerous and evil. "Yes, my father always talked about how it was dangerous and to never get involved with it."

"I know how people see magic now, the shadows tell me… People view magic as bad after the incidence here in Azarath."

Richard nodded. "So, what's going on?" He asked.

"You have fallen into Azarath, every living being in this kingdom has been told to report any human that stumble into Azarath. Whenever it is royalty or a peasant." She said, again leaving the curse under ice.

"What happen to people when they pass in here?" Richard asked as a tiny tingle of fear began to creep up his spine.

"Most are sent home with no memory of what is between the mountains. Others have frozen to death before Goredar could reach them."

There had been royals that passed before, a prince named Roy of Star kingdom had passed but not survived as Goredar had been too late to save him. The prince's body had been placed in the forest with claw marks and bite marks of a wolf.

As much as Raven wanted to take responsibility for what she'd done, she could not leave to explain and any trace of magic would be tracked down and killed. But if people entered Azarath with such hate in their hearts, they would die themselves in the storm.

It wasn't a choice to have the storm as this defence, if she could, Raven would've let people enter to kill her. Had it been possible, she would've killed herself so many years ago.

"What about me? Will I die?" Richard asked, ripping Raven from her flashback at the prince of Star's dead body laying at her feet.

"That depends, the storm will try to kill anything with a pumping heart and a flowing pulse." She answered, it was both a truth and a lie. First, it was the fact that Richard could break the curse, however keeping him here with force was a torture she'd never place on anyone. "However, there is a chance that one could make it…"

Richard swallowed hard, she saved his life and now he was asking to leave. "How big is the chance?"

"Slim to none…" Raven closed her eyes before she turned. Richard turned his head to see what she was looking for. "Run." She muttered. "Run!"

A roar broke the silence and around the corner of the end of the hallway came a large ice monster. This stood at double size of Goredar and was made of dark spiky ice. Its four red eyes stared at Richard, it's mouth opened and shadowy smoke fell and pooled on the floor.

"Run!" Raven grabbed Richard by the arm and dragged him down the hallway.

The ice monster followed them, jumping from the floor to the walls for speed.

The two ran down the hallway, two wooden door appeared on the end of the hallway, the throne room. Richard heard the monster's claws as they scraped against the ice on the floor, and he wondered how he didn't slip himself.

Raven threw her hands towards the door and muttered some words before the doors flew open. Richard didn't have time to react before Raven grabbed his arm and threw him towards the door. He fell on his face and turned just in time as Raven closed the doors on herself.

As the doors closed, he heard her yell, "Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos!" And he swear he saw darkness and ice flow from her hands. He didn't get to see more as Goredar appeared behind Richard and grabbed him by the collar, and began to drag him away from the door.

"What about-"

"Her highness can handle the monster, it is not the first time." He said.

 **xXx**

Raven threw her hands towards the monster, letting ice surround it's claws. Her ice melted into the monster's claws and glued it to the hallway. The giant monster roared before opening it's mouth to let it's smoke consume her.

"Not today." She whispered before spearing the monster with a spiky ice spear. It speared the monster through the mouth and head.

It froze before starting to crack. At decent speed, the monster cracked before falling to the ground like shattered glass.

She let out a breath of relief as the monster didn't rise again. The least she could do, was keep the royal safe until she could find a way to get him out.

 **xXx**

 **I'll explain why she want him to leave in the next chapter, and I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I'm really busy and I'm reading these books and I just don't find that much time… I'll try to update faster… However it probably won't happen...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Vision of the past**

Richard had been taken to his room before Raven came out of the hallway with the monster, she didn't hesitate to put Goredar in charge of his safety. As it was, Raven didn't have control of her powers and so could only control a small party of her monsters. The rest had been locked away in the dungeons.

However, every once in while the monsters would escape. Raven could handle them, but the magicless prince… Goredar would at least be able to hold it back so Richard could run or at least get her.

Raven grunted as she walked down into the dungeons with a torch in her hand. It was burning against her cold skin, but she ignored it, the dark monsters were afraid of light that's why she brought it. To keep the monsters away from her, that's what she needed while checking the damage.

Usually, she'd bring Goredar with her to feel better, but since he was busy literally stalking the prince, she took another. It was a female with a thin spider body with the upper body of a human. An arachne, as she had read in a book. The female was tall as she loomed over Raven with very long black hair. Feenja, as she was called, was a gentle creature Raven had imagined when she was a child. However Feenja didn't come to life before everything froze.

"Are you feeling okay, your highness?" Feenja asked with such a gentle voice that Raven really wondered if she was made of shadows like the others.

Raven turned to her. "Yes, we just need to check the damage. If there's a huge hole in the walls more could easily escape." It was clear that the spider woman was frightened, she usually hid in her room where she'd sew clothes for visitors or Raven or design armor that was sent to Raven's "Blacksmith", so she wasn't used to go down in the dungeons.

"Okay." She whimpered.

Raven smiled and let go of a light chuckle, "You know, most humans fear spiders for their lives." It was a fact she'd seen in people when her smaller spider monsters were sent out to spy.

Spying wasn't a thing she did regularly, she sent them out every hundred year so she could see what the humans did and if they'd ever move on from their dark ages. She had, sadly enough, witnessed people forget Azarath, making the once beautiful kingdom into nothing more than a fairy tale kingdom.

"I know, and some spider are to be feared, but some is also quite nice." Feenja muttered low, she was very aware of that she'd never get accepted for the world. It wasn't that she blamed Raven for it, because without Raven she wouldn't even be alive, however she was sad that she'd never be able to make friends outside the kingdom.

"You're still full of hope and joy though. It's nice to have you around." Raven said in an attempt to comfort the depressing arachne. Feenja smiled at the compliment.

The two reached the dungeon door, Feenja stood behind Raven in slight fear. Raven unlocked the puzzle placed on the iron door before stepping in.

"Well, everything looks fine here, let's get back up." Feenja tried, before Raven grabbed the the ribbon around her waist to stop her. Feenja wore a simple faded dark blue maid suit with a white bunched up skirt. Feenja was the one responsible for clothing and tapestry around the castle. The clothes given to Richard were from her, and so was Raven's dress.

"Not so fast, you can stay here by the door if you want but just call out if something moves." Raven said before moving deeper into the darkness. Raven smiled in victory as Feenja followed. It was kinda funny how she was made from shadows and feared them so, she only followed because Raven had the lightsource.

 **xXx**

"But what happened?" Richard asked furiously while pacing back and forth in front of the roaring fireplace. "What was that?!"

Goredar, who was sitting in a chair watching the prince pace, sighed. "The creature was one that is not controlled or willing to follow her highness's orders. Unlike myself, who followed her by seeing her wish of safety, these creatures are impulsive and uncontrollable." Goredar explained to the prince.

"But why won't it follow her? Wasn't it made by her? _Can't she control something she made_?!" Richard asked loudly, he knew that he shouldn't be raising his voice but he couldn't help it. The monster had scared him beyond any nightmare he'd ever had.

Goredar's anger flared for a second before realizing that Raven didn't tell the prince that she actually didn't have control of her power, nor the fact that she was responsible for the ice and darkness.

"I shall speak with her highness of the information she has given you, as I can tell she has not told the whole story." Goredar rose from the chair, it suddenly became his quest to find the princess and tell her that she needed to tell Richard the whole story _including_ the curse and her powerlessness.

"Where are you going?" Richard asked.

"Her highness has some things to explain to me." With that Goredar vanished out the door without much of a goodbye.

 **xXx**

Richard had fallen asleep after Goredar left.

 _He stood in the ice covered throne room. The shadows were dancing around in the corners of the room, slowly slithering up to the princess in the middle of the room. Raven looked a few years younger than when he'd seen her._

 _But it wasn't her age that drew his attention, it was the fact that she was crying while shadows seem to draw her in. She didn't attempt to fight them. She simply sat there, letting the vines of darkness wrap around her limbs at painfully slow pace._

" _I'm sorry…" He heard her whisper between sobs._

 _He wanted to reach out to her, but when the shadows formed a figure in front of her, he stopped._

 _He sat fast that the form formed Goredar._

" _Your highness…" Goredar bowed before Raven. She looked up before jumping away in fear, the shadow wines letting her go with ease. "I mean you no harm."_

 _Raven looked at him with fear engraved in her eyes. "Who are you!?" She cried._

 _Goredar, who seem far too calm, kept his head low. "I am Goredar, a figment of your wish for safety and view of a royal guard." He said._

 _Richard didn't really know what was going on, Raven had wished for safety and imagined him? Goredar was her view of a royal guard? Then she'd seen some horrifying guards in her life._

" _What?" Raven asked, her voice cracking._

" _You cannot remember me?" Goredar seem to laugh lightly before he smiled at the princess. "You were a child when I first came to your mind, I was never able to be free because you wasn't at your strongest yet. But now, I am here to serve you as your guard."_

Richard had woken with a jump as he heard a roar down the hall followed by running and yelling.

"You went into the dungeons with the softest figment you've ever created!?" That was Goredar, that was for sure.

"I didn't think she'd be attacked." Raven yelled as they passed Richard's room. "Stay here, the monster will smell him, and once he does, he'll forget Feenja and come here." With that, the light footsteps of Raven ran away.

Goredar didn't open the door so he assumed he'd stand outside until the danger had passed. He heard him sigh loudly before muttering, "She'll never get over it."

 **xXx**

King Bruce was furious. He paced back and forth in the throne room. His son was gone. The horse had returned in a state of panic and a search party had been sent out to find the lost prince. He'd so far been gone for two days. Two days too long!

"We'll find him, your highness." The captain of the guards said. "I promise." The captain was about to leave, when a cloaked person stepped out of the shadows of the corner.

"That won't be necessary," Said the cloaked figure to the captain as he drew his sword. The captain didn't listen as he pointed the sword at the cloaked one.

"Who are you?" King Bruce asked.

The cloak's hood flew off, black hair was revealed with one green eye, Malachi. "King Malachi of Nol," He gave a graceful bow before waving his hand in an attempt to flatter himself.

"What do you want?" Bruce wasn't exactly best friend with Nol, none of the kingdoms were.

"I know where your son is." Straight to the point.

Bruce turned his attention to the wicked king. "Where?" He asked.

"Well I could tell you, but I'd have to get something in return." Malachi smirked and began to play with his nails. He knew his careless look was frustrating to the king.

"What do you want?" The king asked.

"Simple," Malachi started before teleporting to the king's side. Bruce wasn't one that liked magic, nor did he like it when other used it, especially a wicked corrupt king like Malachi. "Your son is in Azarath, or what's left of it, he's held captive by the last living there, the princess. I want her." He said, and quickly added, "My son is seeking a bride and I've had my eye on Azarath for awhile now and the princess holds great magic. Uncontrollable magic."

Bruce considered the offer before quickly saying, "Azarath is a fairy tale."

Malachi laughed. "Oh it is far from a fairy tale. Azarath is very real, just forgotten. About seven hundred years ago people started to say it was just a myth after the blasted kingdom tried to attack my kingdom." Malachi smirked. "King Trigon was a foolish ruler, trying to fight fire with fire… Or in that case, magic with magic."

"Where is it?" Bruce asked.

Malachi smiled as he knew he had the kingdom in his hands now.

 **xXx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Words travel fast**

King Malachi smiled at King Bruce's army. It was big to say the least. Long rows of men in armor stood with hands on their swords. With the captain, who Malachi learned who's name is Victor Stone, stood the general, Garfield Logan. From what Malchior had told him, the captain and the general were close friends. Best friends in fact.

That amused the king of Nol, Malchior was smarter than intitle people as _best friends._ His few friends: Red-X, the captain of the guards of Nol. Jinx, the castle's entertainer. Kyd Wykkyd, the magic manager. And finally Rose, the general of Nol's army. Malchior wouldn't address them as friends but they were close enough to the royal family.

Malachi ordered his guards to summon his son. Now that Gotham was on his side in this quest of getting the princess, it would be so much easier.

A few minutes passed before the wooden doors of Gotham castle opened.

"You summoned me, Father." Malchior bowed before his father.

Malachi didn't turn to his son, "Rise" He said before telling him to join him next to him. "You see this, Malchior?" The king pointed out to the army standing ready to travel at first light. Torches was lit around the army, the soldiers on the outer lines held the flaming torches high in the night sky. "This army will fight whatever princess Raven has done. When the curse first set place, I cursed her so control was a hard thing for her to gain. If we're lucky she'll be in less control than after her powers made Azarath vanish." Malachi smirked.

"What do you wish me to do, Father?" Malchior asked while staring at the army below them.

"I convinced King Bruce to not destroy Azarath, the only thing he wants is Prince Richard. Princess Raven is ours. She is to bow to me. When she was born I cursed her for what Queen Arella and King Trigon did to me." Malchior knew the story his father had told. Azarath had set out a man hunt on his father after his father had given princess Raven a gift of magic. _A Curse_ they had called it. Malchior, as he was the king's son, had also been given a powerful gift. Not as powerful and uncontrollable as Raven's, as hers was of ice and shadows, while his held of fire. However their difference was the fact that Malchior had been given a dragon form as well.

His dragon, was one of black and purple. A powerful creature capable of bringing down a kingdom of its own.

"We will stay in Azarath after the king gets his son back. Prince Richard was not included in my plans." Malachi grumbled.

"If I may ask, Father, what is your plan?" Malchior asked.

Malachi looked up at the sky and smiled. "I had plans to wait until the princess's lowest and most lonely moment, that is when we'd go into Azarath and befriend the princess. Azarath has never been a kingdom that liked us, but they likes us even less after my gift. Her highness is a child that wishes for affection of others. And we will be the ones that shall give her what she wants…" There was a hidden promise in Malachi's words, one that spoke of a hidden desire for the kingdom itself, a desire for the power and magic that lived only in the land of Azarath.

"Very well, father."

 **xXx**

Richard was firstly confused over the delicious food the kitchen had produced. He asked about it and only got an answer when the chef came out of the kitchen. Another shadowy monster, this one looking like a standing bison with two giant horns on it's head. The bison cook came in with a cooked pig that he placed on the table between Richard and Raven.

The cook grunted, a gray cloud erupted from his nostrils before he went back into the kitchen.

"Euhum is a grumpy one, whatever you do or say, never say his food is bad. Not that it is, but if you don't like it… Suck it." Raven said as she dug into the cooked pig. For a princess, she ate like a pig.

Richard couldn't hold the smile back, first of all, he didn't blame her for not having as much manners as he did. She had been alone with only her monsters for a thousand years. Richard took a bite out of his own food, silently and unwillingly he stared at her.

When Raven felt someone staring at her, she looked up. She was so used to eat alone that her manners had vanished. "I apologize for my behavior, I have not really eaten with a fork in a while." She blushed with embarrassment.

Smiling, Richard placed the forks next to the plate and lifted the pork with his bare hands. He'd always wanted to do this. Without warning, he dug into the meat and made even more of a mess than Raven had.

Raven's shoulders loosened and she ate her food. She felt joy seep into her heart as she learned that Richard didn't care whenever she had manners like that.

"I've always wanted to do that." Richard called over the table with a messy grin on his face. "Father would never had allowed me to. _It is not proper for a prince to eat like a peasant!_ " Richard said trying to sound like his father.

Raven let out a soft laugh before saying, "My father would say the same, _Raven! Do you even know what a fork is?!_ Mother would always laugh about it." Richard laughed.

They sat in silence as their laughter died, it lasted a few minutes before Richard asked, "How was your parents?" It was a risky question.

Raven smiled, a pleasant warmth filled parts of her hollow cold heart, "They were nice, they gave me all the love I needed and more. They taught me about the kingdom, different kinds of magic, but most of all… They loved me, they never gave me up… Not even as the curse froze the kingdom, they still loved me, they still cared…" A sadness filled Raven as she finished, it was her that killed everyone, it was her burden to bear.

"You're lucky, my father was always busy. And my mother died when I was very young. My father always left me with the babysitter. Her name was Azar-" Richard stopped as Raven dropped her food in shock, her mouth hung open as she stared at Richard. "What?" He asked.

"A-Azar?" She asked.

"Yes, she was my babysitter or caretaker in this case." Richard took a sip of the wine he probably wasn't actually supposed to drink. "Did you know her?"

Raven smiled. "Yes, she was one of my teachers, she helped me study and control the shadow part of my powers. But when she noticed that everything and everyone was freezing, she left. Not because she wanted to or she was scared, she told me that she had to go and make sure the legend of Azarath lived."

"That makes sense, Azar always told me about the kingdom of Azarath and how it _fell._ She said that it was a story that was to live. The last thing she said before she died was that, I'd one day see it in all it's glory." Richard's smile faded when he saw the tear running down Raven's cheek. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Raven cut him off.

"It's fine. Azar was a great woman, she lived for so long… Anyway, I'd hope to live to see Azarath in the glory it once was." What she said next was barely above a whisper, "I hope I live to that day, too."

 **xXx**

Richard didn't know why he was this stupid. After dinner he'd been escorted back to his room to rest by the fire. The cold had started to get to him, and so, Raven and Goredar had rushed to his room to get him warm again. Now he was wandering the hallways.

Richard walked down the cold hallway and looked at the paintings and decor along the way. He came upon a huge set of doors, he was about to walk again when voices was heard from the inside.

"Are you sure, Goredar?" It was Raven, "I mean one human prince is a coincident, but now another. Are you sure you saw right? He was alone too?"

"Yes, I am sure, though I could not see or walk past the barrier, I saw a prince." Goredar answered.

"If it wasn't bad enough with one prince that I'll have to return…" Raven grumbled. "For all we know, the prince could have an army beyond the barrier." Raven growled. Actually growled.

Richard listened closer to the cold door.

"Your highness, I am asking you if you want me to retrieve him and the army he might possess." Goredar said, it was a shift in his voice as he spoke next, this time it was more of worry. "I am aware that you wish to send the prince home, you will not let him live here longer, but until it's safe for him, I suggest we take in any living beings that could help."

"And if they're bad, if they want me dead?" Raven's question was harsher than Richard expected, who would want her dead?

"Then they can go back to where they came from, alone. I will not guid someone willing to harm you."

There was a few minutes of silence, and Richard wondered if they'd gone somewhere else. That was, until Raven spoke again.

"Scout them, ask them out, what do they want? Where they came from? When they will leave? Also, make sure they know that death could be at them with the snap of my fingers." Richard took a small step back, but remained quiet.

"And the prince of Gotham?"

"Tomorrow, we'll send him home." Raven said before he heard footsteps heading towards the door.

He ran.

 **xXx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The howl of anger**

Raven sat in the darkness of her room. The white stone around her lifeless, the windows were frozen over as usual. But something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Goredar was on his way to get words from the army that stood at Azarath's doorstep.

Richard hadn't been seen since last night either. Since Goredar was out on duty, Raven had sent Feenja to fend for the prince. Only once did she hear his yelp of horror.

But who wouldn't be frightened by Feenja? The girl was half spider, most humans feared spiders to the end of life.

Raven turned to the fireplace in her room, dead, nothing could light it. Even if she tried. Her dark, frozen heart couldn't warm anything. When she had given Richard his room, she had made sure that her ice wouldn't reach him fast enough before Goredar lit a fire. From them on, she made sure that Goredar kept the fire going.

Oh, how badly she wanted to light that fire.

A tear escaped Raven's eye. It had been long since she had come in contact with real warmth. Real, beautiful warmth.

Sighing loudly, Raven closed her eyes to the embrace of darkness. Soon, the other invading kingdom, whoever they were, would be there. Then, she could decide whenever she should let them freeze over or go away.

 **xXx**

Goredar lead the small party that had decidet to follow him. A prince, two kings, the captain, the general, and a few guards. Goredar said nothing as he lead them to his castle, to his queen.

He knew that Raven was following, he knew the moment he saw the void black raven fly over him. He almost laughed to himself, Raven might have been the queen of anything cold, but her curiosity was something to laugh at.

As they walked, he also took notice of how the ice and snow had melted, it wasn't much, but slowly and carefully he saw it melt. It wasn't much as the meters of snow surrounded them, only inches had melted. But it brought something new into Goredar's heart.

His queen's frozen heart was melting.

"Is it much farther?" King Bruce asked. They hadn't brought horses in as they would likely frozen to death within minutes.

"No," Gordar started, "however I will advice you not to antagonise her."

"Why?" Asked King Bruce. He would attack if it meant getting his son back.

"My queen could kill you herself, or make me do it. I will not hesitate to follow my queen's orders." There was a threat in his words, a threat that Goredar hoped the King would understand and avoid.

When the group finally found the castle, only the king of Nol was not surprised. Which made Goredar force on his guard even more than it already was. The castle had also changed, the ice and darkness had retreated slightly. The towers that was once covered in knife sharp ice, had melted to a softer, more smooth, surface. The darkness that leaked over the castle was still there.

"Is this your queen's castle?" the general asked. A foolish question, Goredar thought.

"Indeed," Goredar lifted his hand and signaled to the lesser guards across the frozen water that surrounded the castle. One would think they could walk over, but the ice was thin, and beneath, rested monsters to protect the ones that did not walk the bridge.

The bridge came down, Goredar lead the way as the group started out over the bridge. The bridge looked to be made of stone, but darkness and ice covered most of the moving bridge.

Suddenly, as they crossed the middle of the bridge, one of the water monsters cracked through the ice and aimed to attack. The guards had drawn their weapons and were ready to strike the flying fish monster. The monster held wide void blue eyes, long sharp teeth, fins and shells covered the humanlike upper body, while the lower body was the one of a fish.

Goredar drew his sword and cut off the beast's head faster than anyone could react. The monster hissed as it vanished into smoke before them. The shadow captain remained silent as he continued talking.

"Her highness is angry." Goredar whispered as they walked off the stone bridge, "I'll advice you again, don't antagonise her."

A scream echoed down the halls. Everyone, but the shadow guards, flinched.

"What was that?!" The human captain asked, his sword drawn.

"Her highness is dreaming," Goredar turned to another hallway and pointed to one of the lesser shadow guards, "Take them to the throne room and wait, I need to see my queen."

The shadow guard nodded before leading the group towards a set of ice covered doors.

Goredar sprinted to where the howl of anger and sorrow had come from. His queen's room. Richard was nowhere in sight, his room most likely.

Goredar bursted through the doors of the room, his queen was laying with her head buried in her hands. She was shaking, as if in pain. "My queen!" Goredar yelled as he helped her up.

"I sense magic," She breathed, "strong magic, have you brought them here?" Goredar nodded. Suddenly, he felt scared, the eyes of his queen turned dark and she smiled, "Good. Get Richard down to the throne room. I'll make my entrance when I know they can be trusted."

 **xXx**

Richard followed Goredar to the throne room. His family had come to him, Goredar had told him. Whenever he believed it or not was his own business. But as the giant iced doors opened, his mouth dropped.

Goredar had spoken the truth, his family stood before the ice throne, waiting.

"Richard!" Bruce yelled, it was a mixture of both happiness, anger, and sorrow. Happiness for seeing his son alive and well, anger for the fact that he had been gone, and sorrow for not have been able to protect him.

Richard stood frozen by Goredar's side. The shadow guard didn't move as it had been an order to escort him, the first step would be Richard's.

Scanning the others, Richard found both Victor and Garfield there, smiling. The black haired king and the white haired prince, he did not recognize. He knew they were royals for their crowns, one of a king and one of a prince.

"Father." Richard stepped up to his father and embraced him.

"You are unharmed?" Bruce asked.

"Yes, the queen didn't harm me-" He turned to the throne, empty. Casting a glance at Goredar, he found him on his knee bowing to the empty throne. Raven was about to make an entrance. Richard turned to the throne and bowed himself. He felt it necessary as he was in her kingdom anyway.

"Richard-" Bruce said before he understood. He turned to the empty throne and started, waiting for whatever horror had taken his son. Goredar's warning had left his mind, his hand was on his sword. He'd kill the queen if he had to. He nodded to his guards, the captain and the general held their swords ready. The only ones that did not, was the magic king and prince.

Nothing happened in the next few minutes.

"Is your queen shy?" Malachi asked Goredar, who still bowed.

"My queen will enter when it suites her." Goredar snarled.

"Is that a way to treat unwanted guests?" A female voice broke through them. King Bruce was about to draw his sword, when he found it gone. He turned to his guards, the same had happened to them. Their only line of defence was the magic Malachi and Malchior possessed.

"I apologize, your highness." Goredar said.

"Do not apologize, they were about to draw weapons…" Suddenly, all of their weapons dropped to the ground by the throne. Everyone glanced up to see a female spider-like monster. "Drawing a weapon upon someone who can kill you with a second thought is not a good sign… Is it, _King Bruce_?" The ice queen spat his name.

"Where are you!" The king yelled.

Suddenly, Richard rose from the ground and said, "They won't harm, Raven, their attack is on me if they attack you."

That seem to convince her. Seconds later, darkness filled the throne. A shadow formed, and suddenly. Raven sat in the ice throne.

Richard could tell she was wearing a mask, a mask to protect what she had left. She hadn't worn it around him, but he saw it, a cold, unforgiving mask that would kill if she was attacked. Raven turned to Goredar, who had risen from his spot.

Goredar walked up to her, and stood behind her, a guard.

"There is no need for introductions, I know who you are." Her gaze landed on the royals of Nol. Wrath colored her vision. "I know who you are, king of Nol. I know what you did, so many years ago." Her voice was calm, while her eyes burned.

"I do not know what you are talking about." Malachi said.

"They kept nothing hidden, I know what you did that day. I know." Her voice was threatening to kill. "I will deal with you when I bother," she turned to Bruce, "what is it that you bring an army to my kingdom door for?"

"You stole the son of Gotham!" The king yelled.

Goredar growled, Richard realized he had the same mask. Raven held up her hand to stop Goredar if he tried to attack. "I have stolen nothing."

"Lies!"

"Your son, King Bruce, would have died. The freezing storm would have claimed his life had I not invited him to my home." Raven said, her eyes turned to Richard, she asked him to speak.

"It's true, Father. Had she not saved me when she did, I would have died." Richard said, his fear had worked it's way around him by now. His father was antagonising her.

Bruce stared at his son for a minute before turning back to Raven, "What spell have you put on him?!"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You wish to see the spell I have cast? Here it is…" Even Goredar took a step back. Slowly, shadows began to leak from the roof. Creatures and monsters of every size and form began to crawl down strings of black. Some of the monsters had ice-like armor. But all held red glowing eyes.

The human guards began to tremble, some shaking in fear.

Raven rose from her throne, an evil darkness covered her eyes. "I shall show you." An arrow shot towards the queen. One of the guards had pulled out a hidden crossbow, and fired.

The arrow froze and dropped to the ground before it hit her. She stared at the guard that had fired. Goredar stepped up, a blade ready to cut flesh in his hand.

"I warned you…" He said, but before he could strike, another arrow was fired at Raven. This one, made of fire and held magic.

Hell broke loose.

 **xXx**

Feenja ran through the hallways towards the dungeons. It had been a request from the queen to release all monsters down there.

A threat.

Raven told her everything before the humans got there. She would scare them away. Bring hell on them, hopefully so they would never enter Azarath again. The moment the two from Nol had entered the castle, Raven knew what to do.

Raven's parents had told her everything, the curse, who cursed her, how to undo it. But Raven would never force anyone to fall in love with her, she hardly believed anyone would love her. But she loved her kingdom above all else.

Sadly, Raven had to chase away their hope. She had to chase away Richard.

Feenja didn't want it to happen, but she had little choice.

So, she followed orders, and released all the untamable monsters under the castle.

 **xXx**

Darkness had formed around the throne room. Everyone was seeing their worst fear. Monsters were all around them, ice had even started to form around them. Spikes of ice to protect their master.

The roar of the monsters were heard all around the castle. The throne room shook with the impact. Raven stood her ground and watched, waited, until the group would flee.

Richard stared at her, waiting for something of the girl he'd come to know. He waited for Raven, not this queen. He wouldn't leave without her.

Most of the monsters seem to go after the king and prince of Nol, while lesser beings simply stared at the human guards. None moved, they waited, waited for their queen to say the word.

Richard looked at Raven, it almost looked like she didn't care. Like there was nothing worth saving for her.

Loud footsteps was heard down the halls, the same bangs Richard had heard when the first monster had escaped. His eyes widened.

"Run." Raven said. "Run away, and never return to the doors of Azarath!" Her voice was filled with hate, something that surprised him. This was the same woman that laughed at his attempt to run back to his back to his room when he eavesdropped on her and Goredar's conversation.

A tunnel of shadow formed, showing them the way out. Slowly, everyone turned to walk. All but Malchi.

"You think that I will leave such power?" The king barked a laugh. "Now that I have you where I want, I'm not letting it go."

The doors smashing open said otherwise, as a massive bear-like creature entered. The body was black, but it held ice armor, it's red eyes didn't say they would obey the queen, no this one wasn't interested in obeying, this one was to kill, to protect.

"I don't think so." Raven said.

Another door bursted open, another similar monster came in. Both stood before their queen. But if Richard recalled, they were untamed, they didn't obey. Then why so suddenly?

Raven pointed her finger at the king of Nol, her eyes turned red, "Kill."

 **xXx**

 **Don't expect much of me… I'm really not in the mood for anything… I just had half of this on my PC and thought I'd finish it. There might take awhile until the next chapter… Maybe, if I don't feel like writing. I have also come to that point in life where I hate talking to human beings, I literally hate everything...**


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